The ninth year after the Migration
Regarding the weak [who were legitimately excused], the Prophet, ﷺ whilst in Tabūk, said, ‘There are groups of people in Medina: we have not traversed a valley nor a mountain trail, except they were with us; they have been confined due to an impediment.’
He ﷺ left Medina on Thursday, as he used to love leaving for a journey on it, and that was five days into Rajab. He ﷺ left behind ‘Ali ibn Abī Țālib AlaihisSalam to look after his family and the others left behind; the hypocrites began to criticise him for staying behind, and so he caught up with the Prophet ﷺ and told him, saying, ‘You leave me behind amongst women and children?’ He ﷺ replied, ‘Are you not to be in relation to me as Hārūn was in relation to Musā, pleased except that there is no Prophet after me?’
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ marched forth, and when he ﷺ passed by al-Hijr, the Lands of Thamud, he said, ‘Do not enter the lands of those who wronged themselves, in case what befell them befalls you, except [ you do so while] weeping.’ He then covered his head and hurriedly passed on until he reached Tabük. He stayed there for just over ten nights and then returned to Medina without encountering any fighting.
Dhu al-Bijädayn al-Muzani died during the Expedition of Tabük. Ibn Mas’ud said, ‘I saw the Prophet ﷺ in his pit, telling Abu Bakr, “Drop down to me your brother.”He ﷺ then said, “O Allah, I am pleased with him, so be pleased with him,” whereupon Ibn Mas’ud said, ‘I wish I was the one being buried in the pit.’
[Also] In this expedition, he performed the funeral prayer over Mu‘āwiyah ibn Mu’awiyah who had passed away in Medina: so he ﷺ prayed over him while in Tabūk; Jibril, among seventy thousand angels, descended and then placed his right wing over the mountains, which were humbled, until he ﷺ could see Mecca and Medina from Tabük, and then the Messenger of Allah, Jibril and [a group of the] angels, upon them be peace, prayed over him. When he had finished [praying], he said, ‘O Jibril, how did Mu’awiyah attain this rank?’ He replied, ‘By reciting, “Say, Allah is One…” [Qur’an 112] while standing, prostrating, riding and walking.’ Ibn Sunnī and al-Bayḥaqi narrated the latter.
It was during this year that some people built a mosque in order to harm those who would pray at the Quba’ mosque. Those who built it came to the Prophet ﷺ as he was returning from Tabük and asked him to come to the mosque, at which point, Allah Most High’s words were revealed, ‘And those who took a mosque to cause harm, [promote] disbelief, dissension amongst the believers and as an ambush for those who…’ [Qur’an 9: 107]. So the Messenger of Allah summoned some of his Companions and said, ‘Go forth to this mosque of the unjust and destroy and burn it.
The story of those three companions who stayed behind from joining the Expedition of Tabūk occurred. These were Ka’b ibn Mālik, Hilāl ibn Umayyah and Murārah ibn al-Rabi’. Regarding them, His Most High’s words, ‘And to the three who stayed behind…’ [Qur’an 9:118] were revealed.
It also transpired that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ isolated himself from his wives, and regarding that, the Verse of the Option (Ayah al-Takhyir) was revealed, ‘O Prophet, say to your wives… a great reward’ [Qur’an 33: 28]. Then there was the revelation of the verse regarding [the Prophet’s ] prohibiting (Ayah al-Taḥrīm), ‘O Prophet, why do you prohibit that which Allah has made unlawful for you’ [Qur’an 66: 1]. The scholars have differed over what he prohibited for himself; in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, it is [mentioned that it was] honey, but there are other opinions regarding that.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 